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Quesnel Legion to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s death

A ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. on Monday at the Quesnel Cenotaph
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Mourners gather outside Buckingham Palace to pay their respect the Queen in London, Friday, Sept. 9. Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and a rock of stability across much of a turbulent century, died Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, after 70 years on the throne. She was 96. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 94 in Quesnel invites the public to join them on Monday, Sept. 19, in honour of Queen Elizabeth II.

“It will be very similar to a Remembrance Day service,” said branch president Doug Carey.

Legion branches across the country will keep their flags lowered to half-mast until sunset on Sept. 19, the day of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.

In Quesnel, a memorial service will begin at the Quesnel Cenotaph starting at 11 a.m. with a special wreath-laying ceremony and two minutes of silence followed by the singing of ‘God Save the King.’

Read More: Schools, Crown Corps. to close as Horgan declares Sept. 19 a holiday to mourn the queen

During World War Two, Queen Elizabeth II enrolled in the Auxiliary Territorial Service and was made a second Subaltern, training as a mechanic and driver.

Carey said poppies will be available for the public to put on the wreath.

There are no known records of Queen Elizabeth II visiting Quesnel. However, she did attend a barbecue at the Williams Lake Stampede Grounds in 1971 and the official opening of the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George in 1994.

Her death saddened Carey.

”I’m having a hard time dealing with it. I’m 70, so she’s the only Queen I’ve known,” he said, calling her a lovely person.

“She did the job as Queen as good any I’ve ever read about, the way it should be — dignity, pride and duty.”

Read More: ‘Prepared to wait all night’: Long lines as Queen Elizabeth lies in state

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: rebecca.dyok@quesnelobserver.com



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